Because You're Here
by Juliet Emaline
Summary: After coming back to New York to move on from a painful breakup, Jessie finds herself on Luke's doorstep. But it's been ten years since they've seen each other. Is it really possible for two broken people to make something beautiful out of their shattered lives?


Never, not once in her wildest dreams, had Jessie Prescott ever imagined herself here, at this moment, on the doorstep of Luke Ross.

It had been ten years since she'd stopped nannying for the Ross family. Ten years since Zuri had started junior high, and Jessie was no longer needed. Ten years since she'd seen any of them, in fact, because right after she stopped working as a nanny, she headed out to California, determined to land a job as an actor. She bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles and never looked back.

Tony had tracked her down in L.A. not long after she arrived, and the two resumed their romance. Tony got a job at a hotel near the studio where Jessie worked, and they were happy. For ten years, the two of them were completely happy together.

Three months ago, Tony had left her. He'd said something about how he "didn't feel the same way anymore" and he'd "fallen out of love" with her. After that, Jessie refused to remain in a world where she ran into him during her morning coffee run or her weekly grocery store trip. She picked up the shattered pieces of her heart and hauled them back to New York, where she was determined to start over with a new, independent outlook. She didn't need a man in her life.

And somehow, here she was, walking up the front steps of apartment building 349 on East Costello Drive. He was easy enough to find in the phone book; there were no others by the name of Lucas Ross. He was one of a kind, and always had been.

Her heart raced as she rang the doorbell. She imagined how disgusted his family would be if they could see her now, if they could see how far she'd fallen from her nannying days. She was sure she still had black mascara marks on her face from her last round of crying, but she didn't care.

Footsteps approached the door; Jessie's heart was in her throat. She swallowed as the door opened, and a man who looked to be about 27 stood before her. She would recognize that dark hair with eyes to match anywhere. Most of his freckles had faded, and there was a hint of five o'clock shadow on his face. Her eyes took in his muscular arms, showcased by the tight t-shirt he wore. His abs. His _height_. He had to be at least 6'3 now. In his hand he held a bottle of something that looked like hard liquor. As she looked at Luke Ross, she knew she was no longer looking at the same boy who comforted her all those years ago. No, she was looking at a man.

"Jessie?" His eyes registered recognition. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"I live here," she said slowly, biting her lip. What had she expected? That he'd be that same little kid who would run into her arms and tell her that everything was going to be all right?

"Here? You live here, in this building?" He looked surprised.

Jessie shook her head. "No, I mean I live in New York now."

Luke nodded, as if that explained everything. "Do you want to come in?" He turned and headed inside without waiting for her answer. She followed him, glancing around at the disarray of his apartment. Dirty dishes lay on the floor and on the coffee table; the kitchen table was littered with newspaper clippings and paperwork. The floor looked like it hadn't been vacuumed in months.

She sat down on the couch and resumed biting her lip, afraid to meet his eyes. When he finally sat down in a chair across from her, she noticed that his face was drawn and tired. He took a sip from the bottle and looked at the ground bitterly, as if he was trying to forget something.

"How-how long have you been in the city?" he asked suddenly.

"Two months," Jessie said quietly. "How long have you been here, in this apartment?"

"Blew a scholarship I got right out of high school. Been here about 3 years."

Jessie stared at the small round table between them, as if that held the answers she sought. Why was this so difficult? Why was it so difficult to find the right words?

He took another swig. "Why'd you come back, Jessie?" She looked up when he said her name. His expression was pained as he looked at her. "Why'd you leave California?"

"Tony left me," she whispered. "I'm-I'm trying to start over." It felt strange, being completely transparent with him, but it also felt right.

"And why'd you come here?" He downed more of the drink, grimacing.

"I think...I think I came here because I want things to go back to the way they used to be for us. For all of us. But I know that can't happen."

"You're right about that," he said, laughing bitterly. "We're different people now. I'm not the Luke you used to know. The others have changed, too." His expression softened slightly, as if he'd heard the harshness in his own voice.

"It was stupid of me to think things would be the same," Jessie murmured, her voice breaking. She looked at her hands, folded neatly in her lap. "I'm sorry, Luke. I'm so sorry." She bowed her head, allowing sorrow to consume her for the first time in almost a month.

She heard the clink of the bottle on the table, and then she felt a pair of hands coaxing her to her feet. As Jessie's heart pounded and the tears fell, Luke pulled her into his strong arms and held her.

"It wasn't your fault." He paused, as if considering his next words. "We're going to be all right."

She froze and pulled back, looking up at his blurry face. "How can you say that? How can you say everything's going to be all right? Our lives are in shambles. We've fucked things up - royally. How can you say it's going to be all right now?"

Luke wiped away her tears with his thumbs, holding her face in his hands as he looked at her. "No matter what happens, I know we're going to be all right, because I've got you here with me, right now. And whether this lasts for another minute, or another year...it doesn't matter. You're here now, Jessie. And that means everything's going to be all right." She blinked up at the broken man, fresh tears spilling from her eyes as he took her in his arms again and buried his face in her neck. His lips pressed to her skin, leaving his warmth on her flesh as he held her.

"I missed you," he murmured quietly, his voice breaking. "You have no idea how much I missed you, Jessie."

She wasn't sure what made her do it. Maybe she did it because she had nothing to lose at this point, or maybe because she missed Tony...or maybe because for the first time, she was seeing Luke as a man, and not as a child. Whatever the reason, Jessie found herself taking Luke's rough face in her hands and pressing her lips to his. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed back, releasing years of broken anger and passion as he moved his mouth with hers. She pressed herself against him as he let out a low growl, biting her lip and eliciting a moan from her.

After what seemed like an eternity, they pulled away for air, their foreheads touching. "I always figured you'd get over that crush," Jessie whispered, her fingers tangled in his hair.

"I never did. Not for a moment."

She looked up into his eyes and saw the vulnerability there. He really meant it.

She smiled - a genuinely happy smile, for the first time in a while. "I'm glad," she whispered, raising her head to meet his mouth again. And for that moment, she knew everything _would_ be all right, because they had each other.


End file.
